Communication Is Required

Lately I have been talking in the daily editorial about communication. One thing I come across on a regular basis is that people do not like to communicate bad news. However, this is probably the most important time when communication is required. For example, on a project when people identify that they will not hit a deadline, often they do not flag the issue as they feel that if don't say anything they won't get into trouble for missing the milestone.
For the monthly SQL Server User Group we have pizzas delivered at 5:30 p.m. for a 6 o'clock meeting start. Tonight there was torrential rain in Brisbane, which meant that the traffic was a lot heavier than usual, and as a result the pizza delivery driver was delayed. However, instead of contacting me to let me know that the delivery was delayed I needed to call the pizza company to see what was going on. If I had been notified of what was going on, I would have understood the reason for being late and it would have meant that we had the opportunity to start the User Group a bit earlier and then break at an appropriate time. So next time you don't think you will hit a deadline make sure you let the appropriate person know, as it provides them an opportunity to minimise the impact.
- Peter Ward